Trick question: How do you beat two top-five teams in the same week and not make the NCAA tournament? It's not an easy thing to do. The right recipe includes a mediocre loss to a Providence team twice and a gruesomely-staining loss to Columbia, a team tied for last place in the Ivy League. Look no further than Villanova for this year's most perplexing NCAA tournament résumé. It seems like Villanova is always this inconsistent (having lost five consecutive games in a Sweet Sixteen finish in 2008) but this season's ups have been overly high, and the downs vice versa. The Big East is a grueling enough league that the Wildcats (14-9, 5-5 Big East) can slip from an RPI of 49 to an RPI of 73 in one week.

This team needs wins against all the mediocre Big East opponents. Unlike most bubble teams in need of a signature win, Villanova needs two big ones. But it's avoiding any more résumé stains in can't-lose games that generally proves to be more dangerous. The player to know on this team is Ryan Arcidiacono, who averages more than 11 points per game, and his game-tying three-pointer helped Villanova upset Syracuse.This team would fare well against a mid-major team with 22 wins or more. The NCAA committee seems to always end up pairing a shaky big league team against a small school with Cinderella potential. Odds are it'll be a Mountain West or Missouri Valley school. Jay Wright's team lacks a big superstar like it's had in years past, but they're scrappy enough to beat top teams on their home floor.

Résumé worth dissecting: Illinois. It's déjà vu for the Fighting Illini, who crumbled last season after a 10-0 start. This season after a 12-0 start, this Illinois team that was once a top-10 team has started 2-7 in Big Ten play. Forget the fact that John Groce's team has no momentum or confidence. At 15-8 and with an RPI of 48, Illinois is officially a bubble team. Fired coach Bruce Weber, meanwhile, has led No. 15 Kansas State to an 18-4 stance.

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USA TODAY Sports breaks down the 10 best mid-major teams in the nation each week. MWC, A-10 and C-USA are not included; RPI, SOS, Win/Loss record are all considered in the weekly rankings. With less than two weeks to go before Selection Sunday, each team was examined for Cinderella potential.
Dave Weaver, USA TODAY Sports

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Hero of the week: Miami's Reggie Johnson elevated about as high as Jim Larranaga does at yoga class, but that's all he needed to tip in the game-winner against North Carolina State with 0.8 seconds remaining, and the Hurricanes remain perfect at 9-0 in the ACC.

Team that's hot right now: Akron. Remember Ohio's Cinderella run in the Big Dance last year? Well Akron is dominating the league Ohio was supposed to dominate this season, most recently beating D.J. Cooper and Co. 86-72. The Zips are now 18-4 and 9-0 in the Mid-American. Zeke Marshall (12.6 points, 6.9 rebounds per game) is a future NBA player. Aside from its first loss of the season to Coastal Carolina, Akron's NCAA tournament résumé is relatively strong.

Worst résumé stain: Reeling Wichita State's latest 64-62 loss to Southern Illinois was unacceptable. The Shockers had a two-game stranglehold on the Missouri Valley just a week ago and passed conference foe Creighton in the poll rankings. But three close MVC losses to Indiana State, Northern Iowa and (most absurdly) SIU let the now-No. 13 Bluejays move back on top of the Valley standings. WSU is No. 22 this week and might be on the NCAA tournament bubble next week. That's what losing to a 9-13 team will do to a mid-major team.

Quote to note: "There are a lot of things that are reminiscent of the way Larry (Bird) played," said Bill Hodges, Indiana State's coach during the magical 1978-79 season via the Associated Press. Creighton coach Greg McDermott brushed it off, saying: "As much as I love my son and appreciate what he does on the basketball floor, he can't do everything that Larry Bird did. ...Larry was a once-in-a-lifetime player, and I haven't seen another one in my lifetime yet."

Moving on up: Towson's not making history and, well, that's history. A 12-12 record isn't typically considered a successful season but considering the Tigers were 1-31 last year and had lost an NCAA-record 41 games in a row, it's certainly an improvement.

Mountain Wild Wild West: How many NCAA tournament bids will the MWC get? If it's only five, then it's time to start considering Air Force in the mix following a stunning 70-67 upset of San Diego State on Saturday that put the Falcons (14-6) in second place in the league at 5-2. And it's time to start reconsidering Boise State (15-6). Despite a shaky 3-4 MWC start, the Broncos' 77-72 court-storming victory against UNLV is a nice at-large bid defibrillator while the team tries to climb back to .500 in the conference.

Akron sported Zorro-chested looking unis in a Feb. 2 game against Ohio. The school originally planned to have its Twitter handle on the back but that was denied by the NCAA.
Photo courtesy of Akron Athletics

Michigan sported these banana-flavored uniforms in a Feb. 5 game against Ohio State. They also wore highlighter-yellow shoes to make for a blinding TV-viewing experience.
Rick Osentoski, USA TODAY Sports

Connecticut and Michigan State tipped off the season in a tribute game to the U.S. forces on the Ramstein Air Base. MSU's camouflage look fits perfect into its team colors.
View Agency, USA TODAY Sports

Georgetown and Florida also saluted the military by playing on the deck of the USS Bataan. The camouflage wasn't exactly camouflage but the Hoyas' grey and especially the Gators' orange looked extra sharp.
Rob Foldy, USA TODAY Sports

Marquette's jerseys always look cool, whether they're in navy, white, powder blue or yellow. But this one has sentimental value, as players wore a patch honoring former Marquette coach Rick Majerus in a Dec. 8 game following the coach's passing.
Morry Gash, AP

The Terrapins always seem to push the envelope when it comes to uniforms and the team's "Maryland Pride" uniforms worn against North Carolina on Jan. 19 looked sharper in black than previously worn in white.
Gerry Broome, AP

Duke wore these simple digs in their loss to Maryland on Feb. 16. The front sports the iconic "D," and where the players' name would normally be on the back, it simply read "Blue Devils." Classy.
Patrick Semansky, AP

Gonzaga was the first team to rock the new Nike logo uniforms on Jan. 20. Considering the logo is a bulldog, it works nicely with the team colors. SinceGonzaga lost on a buzzer-beater to Butler in this game, it's unlikely they'll wear these again anytime soon.
Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports

Kansas' blue-on-blue version of the "Bleed Out" Adidas jerseys that the team wore against West Virginia on Jan. 28 got mixed reviews, mostly because you can't see the name spelled out on TV. Up close, though, they're decent.
Justin K. Aller, Getty Images

This year's DePaul's Nike jerseys provide a great color scheme with the red color, white lettering with blue outlines and then the white stripes on the side. But what are cool jerseys worth if you're mediocre in the Big East?
Evan Habeeb, USA TODAY Sports

When Nike founder Phil Knight is associated with Oregon, the team's bound to get cool jerseys. While the Ducks don't have as many jersey transformations as the football team, these highlighter yellow jerseys show off the school's colors well.
Scott Olmos, USA TODAY Sports